Reason for Using Frequency and Percentage to Analyse Categorical Data
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Categorical data occur widely in social science, education, management, information management and other fields where observations are classified into groups or response categories. Because such data are expressed as categories rather than continuous numerical measurements, frequency and percentage are among the most appropriate first-level descriptive methods. Frequency shows the actual number of observations in each category, while percentage expresses those observations as a proportion of the total. This makes findings easier to understand, compare and communicate. This article explains the reasons for using frequency and percentage with categorical data, including both non-Likert and Likert-scale responses. It also discusses the practical use of a 50% benchmark where the researcher wants to determine whether a majority of respondents support a position. An aviation example is used to demonstrate the application of the methods. The article concludes that frequency and percentage provide transparent and accessible descriptions of categorical responses, but should be supplemented with appropriate inferential statistics when the research objective involves testing relationships, differences or statistical significance.
Author: OMEDE, MAUREEN
Language: English
Subfield: Statistics and Probability
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203711370
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